Lawyer says client being held simply for display of bravado’

A Worcester man facing gun and drug charges is arguing that he is unjustly being detained for an allegation that he tried to hire a hit man.

The lawyer for Richard A. Keller Jr. said Mr. Keller is guilty of little more than “bravado.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hennessy contends in a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Worcester that Mr. Keller should continue to be held based on the charges, the defendant’s criminal history and the alleged solicitation of someone’s murder. Mr. Keller, 27, of 22 Bangor St. is facing two counts of distributing oxycodone and a charge of being a felon in possession of a gun, a .357-caliber Ruger.

Mr. Keller has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is fighting to be released from jail. He is being held without bail.

In his motion to revoke or amend the detention order against Mr. Keller, his lawyer, John M. Goggins, argued his client is not a flight risk and made no agreement with a confidential witness, who was cooperating with authorities, in a murder-for-hire plan.

Mr. Goggins argued prosecutors did not show that Mr. Keller poses a risk to the community. He further argues the four-month investigation into Mr. Keller by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, state police and the Worcester police vice squad netted only some oxycodone pills and one gun. The informant was paid by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for his cooperation with authorities.

As for the alleged murder-for-hire plot, Mr. Goggins said the confidential witness in the case is biased against Mr. Keller. The confidential witness owed Mr. Keller several thousands of dollars in a drug debt and has a pending court case charging him with assault with a gun in which Mr. Keller’s mother is the victim, Mr. Goggins wrote in his motion filed earlier this month.

During the investigation, which led to Mr. Keller’s arrest in July, authorities allege Mr. Keller asked the confidential witness to shoot someone and in exchange would reduce the confidential witness’ drug debt.

Affidavits on file in federal court said that the informant wanted $4,000 or $5,000 to kill the man, which prompted Mr. Keller to respond that he could easily find someone to do the job for $3,000.

“Indeed the conversation concerning the alleged murder for hire, involves no agreement for any murder for hire, no named individual and actions that can be reasonably explained as bravado and guile,” Mr. Goggins said in the motion.

In citing his reasons why Mr. Keller is a danger to the community, Mr. Hennessy cited in his motion filed Dec. 21 the allegations of the murder for hire.

“While Keller dismisses this solicitation as human nature, the record shows that it was no idle wish that harm should come to the victim,” Mr. Hennessy wrote. “Rather, the record shows that Keller went to a person over whom Keller had some leverage — the CW (confidential witness) who owed Keller a substantial sum for a drug debt; that Keller discussed with the CW how the murder could be carried out …”

Mr. Goggins said his client has not been indicted on any alleged murder-for-hire plot.

He is accused of selling the confidential witness 48 oxycodone pills for $2,500 on May 25 and 20 oxycodone pills for $1,500 and a loaded Ruger for $800 on July 2, all at Mr. Keller’s residence, according to the affidavit of Worcester vice squad Detective Martin F. O’Malley Jr.

Authorities said Mr. Keller was identified by a witness as having supplied Edmond Aboody a .45-caliber gun in February 2003. Three months later, Mr. Aboody had a .45-caliber gun when he was arrested and charged with delivering about 30,000 pills of Ecstasy to an undercover agent in the parking lot of the Piccadilly Pub on Shrewsbury Street.

Mr. Keller was never charged in that case and Mr. Goggins said he has not received any police reports concerning the 2003 alleged gun sale. Mr. Goggins further argues there is “little or no evidence to suggest that Keller is a major gun dealer in the community” and said the informant in the case “has every reason to make Keller out to be a major guns dealer.”

Mr. Goggins contends the government is holding his client on a charge for which he hasn’t been indicted, referring to the alleged murder for hire.

Mr. Keller offered for his aunt to be a third party custodian and that he could be placed on a GPS tracker. He could also be required to report to pre-trial services regularly and be placed on home confinement, although Mr. Keller would need time when he could leave home to deal with his anxiety disorder and receive medical treatment.

Mr. Hennessy said the court correctly found Mr. Keller to be a danger to the community and detained him. Mr. Hennessy cited the prison sentence Mr. Keller is facing in this case and his 2004 conviction in Worcester Central District Court for assault with a dangerous weapon as additional reasons Mr. Keller should remain in custody.

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